So for my roommate’s birthday, I made red velvet cupcakes. Yes, from a box. I admit it.

Oh, they were soooo perfect. So beautiful. Moist. Delicious. The frosting was perfect, not too thick or runny or sweet. It was the perfect cupcake ever, and the frosting actually was kind of an alternate version of what the cookbook reccomended. Usually, substituations don’t work for me. Ususally I end up with some crazy weird tasting mess and when people take a bite, I have to warn them: “Just keep in mind, I did this ONE little thing wrong, which I can do better next time. Oh, but don’t stop eating it, it’s not that bad. It’s pretty good. Kind of…”

Aha! But not this time! This time they were perfect. My roommate said they were the best red velvet cupcakes she had ever had. I will take that. BEST RED VELVET CUPCAKES EVER!

While I can’t necessarily take credit for Duncan Hines’ recipe, (I think it was Duncan Hines? Don’t quote me on that one) I can share my small little advice I have with all baked goods: never overcook them. When the box says to bake them for 19-24 minutes, I set my timer for eighteen. And usually, they are done at eighteen. These were. They were perfect. You don’t want to cook them any longer than what takes them to be done. Undercooking them slightly keeps them moist. If eighteen minutes (or whatever the lowest time the box recommends) isn’t enough, put them back in the oven for a minute or two and keep checking back to see if they’re done. So many people just see 19-24 minutes on the box and set the timer for 21-23 minutes. This is why the world is a cruel, cruel place.

Okay, so the frosting. You want to make sure it isn’t too sweet. I thirded my original recipe because I didn’t have that many cupcakes (four cups of powdered sugar seemed a little much for fifteen cupcakes…) (maybe I should not have eaten like six cupcakes’ worth of batter…whoops.) and I changed it up a little. Here is what I ended up with:

Not-too-Sweet White Frosting

– 1/3 cup butter (I used margarine, so mine was kinda yellower than it could have been)

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

-2 cups powdered sugar (you might have to add more to get the right consistency)

– 1 small tablespoon milk (you can leave this out if your frosting is really liquidy already)

First, combine the butter and the vanilla by hand. If you are making a huge batch, I suppose a mixer wouldn’t hurt, but you don’t want it to become too whipped. Gradually add some powdered sugar, add milk, and then continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting is thick enough to frost with. No drippage should be happening.

And then I frosted them and it was beautiful. Glorious. Magnificent. There were eagles soaring in the sky.